Thank you & don't forget!

I wanted to thank all of you who have shown me tremendous support in my art venture and business! I am encouraged to stay the course on this creative journey I love!  A tremendous heartfelt..thank you, thank you, thank you!

I am asking you keep me in mind when shopping for your holiday gifts this year.  

Here are some links to my online stores.  You can order different sized prints, canvases, framed prints and even phone cases.  

Here are my stores….

Fine Art America

Society 6

Thank you again!

Fall Leaves & Gratitude…A StencilGirl Blog Hop

Leaves have been falling here a little too rapidly this year thanks some extreme winds we have had. I love the colors of the changing leaves here in Tennessee, the beautiful landscape of rolled hay bales, barns and gorgeous color from Mother Nature!

It was easy for me to choose Terri Stegmiller's Striped Leaves stencil from StencilGirl to create a fall piece that conveyed my love of the season.

(1) First step, I created a background on my piece of wood with some tissue paper, handwriting of things I am grateful for and a few scrapes of cream paint.  After it dried I sketched out the trunk of my tree.

(2) I then added in some color with watered down paints.  Allowing them to pool, drip and move around on the wood.  I used Sap green, Pyrole Orange and Quinocridone Crimson.

At this point I am just loving the abstract look...

 (3) After the paint dried, I began using the stencil to add leaves to my tree.  I mixed thicker paints and used them with a palette knife, scraping the paint through the stencil together.  After all, aren't most leaves multi-colored?

The colors I used on the leaves were: Crimson, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre and a tiny bit of Sap Green here and there.

(4) After they all dried, I wrote a quote from Emily Bronte in between the leaves which says, "Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."

Here are some close ups.

I hope you enjoyed!

Remember to leave a comment.  Each comment entered in the ENTIRE hop is eligible for a giveaway from StencilGirl!  Good Luck!

For more of my art tutorials be sure to visit Kirsten Reed Designs.

Here is the rest of the Blog Hop Order:

StencilGirl Talk

Terri Stegmiller

Linda Kittmer

Kirsten Reed you are Here

Marjie Kemper

Janet Joehlin

Judy Shea

Linda Cain

Corrine Gilman

Leslie Tucker Jenison

Mary C. Nasser

My last big show for the season...

I hope to see you there...I will be in Booth 166!

New Online Store!

I have just opened another online shopping store through Fine Art America.  You may access my store through my website here or go directly to the site here.

The great thing about Fine Art America is I am able to offer a much larger variety of prints and sizes than I can through my studio.  They do the printing and shipping and I earn a commission. You may also purchase many works of my art as cards, canvases, or phone cases.

Look at all the other inspiration mixed media work too!

Happy Shopping!

Snow Lady on StencilGirl Talk Today

Come over to the StencilGirl Talk blog and learn how to make a fun snow lady using Nathalie Kalbach's Arabesque stencil!

Angel Class

Come join me on Tuesday, November 19th at the Vintage 615 Art Studio and learn how to create this lovely trio of angels.  I will be teaching how to creatively collage, paint and create your own paper for a personal touch in this piece.

Class will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and $40 fee includes all supplies and light refreshments.  Space is limited.  Call Vintage 615 to reserve your seat today.  (615) 241-1128.

Getting Seasoned...

My eyes have been bugging me for some time. I had them checked in college and was told I was slightly near-sighted....meaning I don't see things far away clearly. I had a pair of glasses I basically never wore.

Fast forward 20+ years later.  It is a problem I can no longer ignore.  Especially when driving in unfamiliar areas.  When I am looking for the turn on "Harrison Ave"...I basically look for the shape of what might be an H in the sign because I can't read "Harrison" until I am up on the turn.

Feel me? Yes, I am THAT driver who suddenly cuts you off because they can finally read the sign and THIS is their turn!!

So for the past TWO years, I have had on my things to do list "get eyes checked".  And this week I finally did.

Well thanks for waiting so long, I now have a bit more of a near-sighted issue AND the birthday issue. You know the birthday eye problem, don't you?  The one that makes your arm grow longer to read the back of the medicine bottle? :)

Translation: bi-focals. Yep.  Granny glasses. Not so happy.  They offered contacts but it just sounded weird to me and I didn't want the hassle of "letting your eyes adjust for a few weeks". They supposedly have these newer "transition bifocals" that don't look so "granny".

So here I am trying on glasses in the store...with my painty phone!

Not really digging the look. I am going to keep looking.  Any suggestions from you bifocal eyeglass people?  Frames that are cute and fun and don't swallow a person's face?  Would love to hear your thoughts!

Christmas Open House

In case you are a local and wish to shop local ~ come join us today!

What we are Grateful For...a blog hop with Jane LaFazio & StencilGirl

Welcome!

Today I am using Jane LaFazio's Red Oak stencil from StencilGirl to make a project for my home.  Come join me!

I decided to something completely different for this project than my "normal" thing. I wanted to create something we could use this year at the Thanksgiving table and I thought about creating a menu that sat up on an easel....wouldn't that be cute? But, seeing as I have no idea what the menu will actually be yet, I went with something that stood the test of time.

I had each member of my family quickly write down 5 things they were grateful for.  I wrote five too.  With these five things (20 all together) I created a wall hanging or tabletop piece for the holiday, that will be great to have out for the entire month.

Supplies I used:

11x14 canvas panel

gesso

acrylic paint

Jane LaFazio's Red Oak Stencil

Ranger's Adirondack spray mist

Krylon Matte fixative

wood icing

Faber Castell markers

burlap

adhesive

chip board letters

First thing I did was gesso the panel and let it dry.

I then took two acrylic paints (warm grey and flesh) and dotted the panel randomly.  I spread with a palette knife.  I decided it looked too neutral and added in a dark brown, using the same method.

I then took Jane LaFazio's Texas Red Oak stencil and laid it over the panel, spraying in random areas for a subtle patterned look.

I sealed the panel at this point, because I knew I would be using matte medium and other paints that might make the spray mist run and smear.

I cut up the five things each family member wrote down...keeping it their own handwriting was important to me. It made it personal and special to us.

I glued the words and phrases down with a gel matte medium and let it dry.

I then took Jane's stencil (which I had cleaned) and went around the words with wood icing (also available through StencilGirl Products).  I really liked using the wood icing in this project because it gave the piece the woody, earthy look I was trying to achieve. I let the wood icing dry and immediately cleaned the stencil.

So this is what it looks like so far.  I decided it needed some contrast and used my Faber Castell marker in brown and very subtly shaded some acorns and leaves through the wood icing.

I cut two strips of burlap and folded along the top with the chip board letters spelling out Grateful.  I cut a couple hearts and adhered them to the bottom of the piece.

 I added a ribbon and hung it up in my dining room for the season! I personally LOVE the fact that is full of imperfection, like us.  Each little bit of handwriting shows the different voices that live in our home and makes it special to me.

I hope you enjoyed this project! Leave me a comment telling me one thing you are grateful for right now in your life.

StencilGirl Products is giving away a prize on their blog StencilGirl Talk. ALL comments left on ALL blogs in this hop are eligible to win. The more comments on, the more chances you have to be the lucky winner! The giveaway will close on Monday, November 11, 2013 @ 11:59 PM Central Time. Good luck and enjoy!!!

Here is the list of Hop Participants:

StencilGirl Talk

Jane LaFazio

Mary Beth Shaw

Linda Kittmer

Jenny Lee Cochran

Kirsten Reed YOU ARE HERE

Janet Joehlin

Corrine Gilman

Helen Shafer Garcia

Leslie Tucker Jenison

Ruth de Vos

Deborah Boschert

Julie Snidle

Mary C. Nasser

Newsworthy?

So twice in the past week I got a bit of press in the local paper...perhaps it was my 15 minutes?

Anyway, it was nice to know the local press supports the arts and I am thankful to live a small close-knit community!

Read here and here to see both stories.

Hope you have an awesome week!

Funny thought for the day...

Hope you have a great Wednesday and don't get too tired this month!

Sneak Peek for this weekend...

Just want to give you a sneak peek at some of the Christmas treasures I will have for sale Sunday at the Holidays in the Hill show.

It will be right after my morning at church for Orphan Sunday...so it is sure to be a full day!

Hope to see you there!